When ‘stay at home’ spells terror: Domestic violence amid the pandemic
Leaving puts you at risk of infection; staying has its own perils. Coronavirus complicates an already harrowing dynamic.
Domestic violence statistics are notoriously difficult to track under normal circumstances. And the COVID-19 outbreak has further clouded the ability to help people in unsafe homes.
While calls reporting domestic violence in major cities have increased, others have declined. Both of these can signal worrisome trends.
Unemployment, economic anxiety, gun sales and social and physical isolation have all been positively correlated with domestic violence — all of which have increased during the pandemic. But tracking the direct effect of quarantine on domestic violence is almost unobtainable. It’s estimated that half of all domestic violence cases go unreported without a pandemic; due to the added pressure of being sheltered in place with a potential abuser, it may be further unreported.
Areas where calls have increased
Domestic violence hotline calls across all of Europe are up by 60%, according to the World Health Organization, which cited drug and alcohol abuse as contributors to the increase in cases.
Even circumstances as simple as families spending more time together — like Christmas or school vacations — can contribute to a rise in domestic violence, according to Marianne Hester, a sociologist at University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. Stay-at-home orders were placed in the U.K. on March 23; since then, there has been a reported rise in demand for emergency shelter and an increase in cases of domestic violence. Some townships have reported an uptick in reports of nearly 20% from before lockdown started. Funding has since been granted to shelters across the country.
The United Nations warned nations about a potential increase in reports of domestic abuse, however many nations are now seeing shelters either underfunded or inaccessible due to a heightened risk of infection. Local governments in Italy, Spain, Belgium and France all began to claim vacant hotel rooms for people escaping abuse, but only after a massive increase in reports.
These increases are not uncommon: The United States, Canada, Spain and Germany have also reported both an increase in cases and demand for emergency shelter. Canada has demanded that domestic violence shelters remain open and allotted $50 million for their operations.
Argentina saw a 25% rise in emergency calls for domestic violence issues since their lockdown began on March 20. Singapore has seen a helpline call increase of 33%. Cyprus has seen a 30% increase.
Areas where calls have decreased
But even though reports globally have increased, areas where calls have decreased don’t necessarily mean violence isn’t happening. Urban areas in California have reported decreases in domestic violence calls; Los Angeles has seen an 18% drop in the past month compared to this time last year. Authorities are concerned this doesn’t mean crime has stopped, with some surmising lack of shelter availability to the increase in home cameras deterring people from speaking out. The virulence of the outbreak in prisons may also disincentivize people from filing charges.
Domestic violence reports have dropped in New York City, but risen across the state. Statewide calls increased 18% from February to March while calls in the city dropped 11%; online services in the city saw an increase in use. Urban residents often have more resources at their disposal than suburban or rural residents, who often have only the state police to contact. With one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates penetrating New York City, people being abused may not want to risk seeking alternate shelter outside of their homes, even if those homes are dangerous. Counties statewide haven’t seen an outbreak on the same scale just yet.
Tanzania, Bangladesh and Iraq have also seen alarming drops in reports of gender-based or domestic violence. Some factors impacting these figures can vary from cultural customs to literacy to internet and phone access. The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid organization, called for services catering to women and girls being deemed essential under the pandemic internationally.
U.S. protective legislation needs renewal
The Violence Against Women Act, first passed under former President Bill Clinton in 1994, has stalled in its renewal efforts in the Senate. The law created resources and legal avenues for people being hurt by domestic violence and sexual assault; it is credited with reducing domestic violence rates by over 60%.
The current iteration of the bill passed through the House last April, but faltered in the Senate due to Republican dissatisfaction with additional firearm restrictions requested by Democrats. Under current provisions, gun purchases could be denied to convicted domestic abusers who were married to the person who suffered their abuse. The version of the bill passed last spring would also deny purchases to those convicted who were dating or in an intimate relationship with the person they abused. It also extended protections to Native Americans and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
The pandemic has incited troubling trends in domestic violence reporting.
The bill that could provide crucial protections for those suffering from abuse has sat in the Senate for over a year.
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